Journal: Scientific Reports

Article Title: Increased body weight in mice with fragile X messenger ribonucleoprotein 1 ( Fmr1 ) gene mutation is associated with hypothalamic dysfunction

doi: 10.1038/s41598-023-39643-z

Figure Lengend Snippet: Fmr1 knockout (KO) male mice are heavier than controls. ( a ) Litter sizes were normalized to 8 mice per litter, weight of 4 litters per genotype monitored from p7-p90, and Fmr1 KO mice compared to wild-type FVB controls (WT) (KO, red; WT controls, black; males, top; females, bottom). n = 12–16 mice, points represent group mean ± standard error. Statistical significance between weight at each age is represented with * (p < 0.05, ANOVA followed by Tukey’s post hoc test). ( b ) Food (left) and water (right) intake were not different (cumulative, n = 8 per genotype); glucose levels (random, left; measured after overnight fasting, right) were not different (WT, black bars represent group mean ± standard error, each black circle represents one animal; KO, red bars represent group mean ± standard error, each red square represents one animal). ( c ) Locomotion activity of male mice measured continuously with Phenomaster for 48 h. Left, x-axis indicates time of day, when monitoring started at 14:00 or 2 pm, shaded area represents dark cycle, lights off in our vivarium from 7 pm to 7 am; black line, WT; red line, Fmr1 KO; n = 8 mice, points represent group mean ± standard error; WT, black; KO, red. Right, area under the curve (AUC), WT, black bars represent group mean ± standard error, each black circle represents one animal; KO, red bars represent group mean ± standard error, each red square represents one animal. ( d ) Locomotion activity, female mice. Statistical significance (*, p < 0.05) was determined with t-test followed by Tukey’s post hoc test.

Article Snippet: WT and Fmr1 KO mice between 8 and 10 weeks of age were individually housed in Phenomaster feeding chambers (TSE Systems, Chesterfield, MO, USA) to analyze food intake and locomotion, and received access to standard chow and water ad libitum throughout behavioral testing.

Techniques: Knock-Out, Activity Assay